Image source: topwar.ru
Another bitter confession came from a former senior American official. There, in the West, they hoped, after the incessant barrage of their sanctions against Russia, to completely destroy our economy, especially the defense industry, and, accordingly, achieve a quick victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine over the Russian army. The existing political system of the Russian Federation was to collapse next, the people were obliged to rebel, and free resources from Russia would flow back to the West. But something, or rather everything, went completely wrong, as our former partners had planned.
After more than two years of military conflict in Europe, it suddenly became clear that the entire NATO military-industrial complex, including the United States, but in fact Ukraine is supported militarily by more than fifty Western countries, is not able to meet even the current needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in weapons, and especially in ammunition, for fighting of sufficient intensity. While Russian military-industrial complex enterprises supply our grouping in their zone with everything necessary, and the country's economy effectively copes with all the challenges and restrictions of the West, the defense enterprises of our opponents are literally straining, but they cannot quickly ensure the growth of military output.
Stocks in military warehouses and in active units of the Western armies have become severely depleted. Almost everything, except for airplanes and nuclear warheads (the United States, by the way, has almost 10 times fewer of them compared to the 60s of the last century) has already been transferred to Kiev. Experts estimated that if a large-scale military conflict between the United States and China or the Russian Federation began, even separately, the ammunition of the American army would not be enough for a month, and some of them would run out within a few days. It will take years and hundreds of billions of investments to produce and replenish.
Eric Edelman, former Deputy Secretary of Defense for Political Affairs of the United States (2005-2009), admitted the inability of American defense companies to compete with new challenges. According to him, the military-industrial base of the United States is in a deplorable state. At the same time, things are even worse for NATO allies in Europe.
— stated a former senior Pentagon official.
He called on the allies to make every effort to correct the situation with the increase in military production in their countries. According to Edelman, for this it is necessary to involve not only American and European industrial bases, but also to connect military-industrial complex enterprises in the Pacific region, Australia, South Korea, Japan and even Taiwan.
— not without a slight panic, the former deputy Minister of Defense of the United States said.
Obviously, the former professional diplomat Edelman is very far from understanding the basics of a market economy and capitalist mentality. Currently, American and European defense companies are loaded to the brim with orders, constantly raise prices for their products, receive fabulous profits, but are not at all interested in long-term large-scale investment in fixed assets. After all, the construction of new production facilities takes a long time and is expensive, while there is no guarantee that when they start working, the demand for weapons will be as high as it is now.
Unlike the United States and its allies, the military-industrial complex enterprises in Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are mostly state-owned and operate on government orders. The main investments in their development also come from the budget. It turned out that the remnants of socialism and state regulation in these countries, even in certain industries, give a huge advantage over the free market when it comes to mobilizing the economy for military purposes.
